West Nile Fever cases soar

Number of infections has tripled this year

(ANSA) - Rome, September 5 - Italy has been badly affected by
an unusually large number of West Nile virus infections in
Europe so far this year, the European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.
It said there have been 975 confirmed and probable
autochthonous human WNV infections were reported by European
countries: 710 in EU/EEA Member States and 265 in EU
neighbouring countries.
Italy had the highest number of reported cases (327),
followed by Serbia (213), Greece (147), Romania (117), Hungary
(96), Israel (49), France (11), Austria (8), Croatia (three,
Kosovo (three) and Slovenia (one).
The agency said the total number of cases was a 3.4-fold
increase compared to the entire season last year.
"To date, a total of 63 deaths due to West Nile virus
infection have been reported by Serbia (21), Greece (16), Italy
(13), Romania (12), and Kosovo (1)," the ECDC said .
"In comparison to the previous six years, the proportion of
fatal cases has not increased".